Langeveldt goes in search of young blood

When the national lockdown is lifted, Proteas bowling coach Charl Langeveldt is eager to inject some fresh blood into the national side’s pace attack.

With speedster Kagiso Rabada having been sidelined by a groin injury before the international season was suspended, Langeveldt said the Proteas coaching staff had gone in search of additional back-up in an attempt to create more depth in the squad.

The likes of teenagers Lifa Ntanzi and Gerald Coetzee, South Western Districts speedster Glenton Stuurman and Eastern Cape paceman Stefan Tate were scheduled to attend a national camp this week, though it had been cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions.

“We’re going to have a meeting tomorrow with the coaches and players, and then we’ll probably have an idea when we’re going to have camps, which are really important to upskill these guys and lift them to international standards,” Langeveldt said on Tuesday.

“These are exciting times. We’re still a young bowling attack, learning about international cricket, and it’s exciting that we have a few other guys who are sticking their hands up at domestic level as well.”

Langeveldt was the Proteas’ bowling coach between 2015 and 2017, and after stints with the Afghanistan and Bangladesh national teams, he returned home in December.

Since he rejoined the squad, the Proteas had gone down in a 3-1 Test series loss to England, as well as a 2-1 T20I series defeat and a 1-1 ODI series draw.

And while they also lost 2-1 to Australia in their latest T20I series, the SA team bounced back to secure a 3-0 ODI series victory over the tourists before the 2020 campaign was placed on hold.

Though he admitted it was a challenge to be working with a young, splintered attack, Langeveldt was pleased with the strides they had made.

“There has been a lot of improvement,” he said.

“To see the guys assessing the conditions on the field with the captain and adjusting to them was really awesome.

“I think Cricket South Africa can be proud of what they’ve done at domestic level. These guys haven’t played a lot of international cricket but they showed maturity and I think that’s a real plus for us going forward.”

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